Never Leave a Man Behind
by AceCade
Summary: Tag to Choke. Noah has been dealt bad cards after bad cards. But he can make it through anything as long as he has his bros, and a certain Blaine Anderson went above and beyond his expectations. Gapfillers for Plaine shippers?


**Disclaimer:** Don't own Glee. If I did, Puck and Blaine would be the best of friends and have more interaction.

**Spoilers:** 3x18: Choke

**Summary: **Somewhere along the line, the world has failed Noah Puckerman. Noah has been dealt bad cards after bad cards. But he can make it through anything as long as he has his bros, and a certain Blaine Anderson went above and beyond his expectations. Tag to Choke. Gapfiller for Plaine shippers?

**A/N:** Wrote this because there was so much Puck/Blaine interaction in one episode that I could not function. And I just love Puck's character and I'm actually pretty mad about how they just literally breezed over his father's story line in the Choke episode, because I was really excited to find out more of Puck's backstory and I was just crushed for him at the end of it. I think that RIB is destroying character after character, so I needed to get these feelings off my chest and here's what happened.

* * *

**_Never Leave A Man Behind_**

* * *

Noah "Puck" Puckerman: resident self-proclaimed badass and sex shark at McKinley High, member of the McKinley Titans football team, member of New Directions, member of Fight Club, and has been sent to Juvie. He's gone from throwing the unpopulars into dumpsters to being their friends and defending them. He may look like a juvenile delinquent (and he'd surely punch you if you told him otherwise), but underneath that tough exterior is a heart of gold that's been hardened over the years.

Somewhere along the line, the world has failed Noah Puckerman. Noah has been dealt bad cards after bad cards.

His mother only cares to speak to him when she wants to badger him about why he hasn't found a beautiful Jewish girl to date yet. Puck just rolls his eyes and ignores his mother. It's even a feat for her to even say that to him, but it's better than the alternative. If he let his hair grow out, he'd be the spitting image of his father, and he sometimes caught the look of pain in his mother's eyes when she looked his way. His father had run out on them when Puck was younger. He was either too young to remember or chose not to, but he could not remember to what extent the damage to his mother his father had done; but, regardless, he knew it was more than enough if she couldn't even look her son in the eye anymore.

Not to say that his "reckless behavior" wasn't any part of that. When he had finally broken down and told his mother that he had gotten Quinn pregnant, actually breaking down into tears the night he found out that they were having a girl, his mother had been furious. It's funny but he started taking a liking to Quinn because he thought that even if she was not Jewish, maybe she would be good enough for his mother to approve of, especially after the whole Santana fiasco (not to mention the awful thrill that ran through his veins of getting away with cheating behind his best friend, Finn's, back by sleeping with his girlfriend). But once he actually sat down to think about it, the thought of being a father to a precious baby girl warmed Puck more than anything in his life ever did, even the time he spent with Quinn couldn't compare. Puck actually wanted to be a father. He wanted it so bad that he could feel it in his very bones. He would be better than his father. He would never leave Beth; they'd have to kill him a million times over for that to happen. But, then, Quinn had ripped that happiness away from him too by putting her up for adoption without Puck's say in the matter.

When that all fell apart, Puck turned to older women.

Puck loved his cougars and they loved him. He would clean their pool for them and then jump in their bed and get pleasure and money in return. Perfect deal, right? No strings attached, just like the Puckster liked it. He was drowning in his own world, and whenever he laid in bed with an older woman, he could just forget for a while and be enveloped by arms that held him even for a few minutes.

But, of course anything gets old after a while. The cougars weren't working for him anymore and he was getting bored.

Now it was Senior year and Puck had to quickly get his head back on track and figure out what he was gonna do with his life. He swears up and down that he wants to expand his pool cleaning business in California. He does, but not really. It's his safe option. It's his sure fire way of getting out of Lima once and for all. To show his mom, sister, Quinn, his father, every-_fucking_-one that Noah "Puck" Puckerman would not be a _Lima Loser_ forever.

But then everything came else started crumbling down around him. And just like everyone else in this fucking town thought, Noah Puckerman would screw up once again. He was so close to being able to graduate, he could taste it. One test stood in his way, one test that even he knew he had no chance in hell passing since his "seduce the teacher" plan fell through.

He wouldn't show it, but the boy was crushed. This was his one thing in life if he couldn't have anything else. His one wish was to graduate high school and be at least a little better than his high school dropout deadbeat of a father. Since he couldn't have Quinn or Beth, he would at least have a high school diploma in his hand and think about the rest later.

And just when Puck thought that things couldn't possibly get any worse, his father decided to pop up as Puck was trying to figure out what to do with his future. The same man that Puck was trying so hard to not end up like, the man he hadn't seen in five years or more, the man he wanted to forget about. The man offered him a beer—_Puckerman's Special Sauce_, he called it—and Puck declined, asking why he was there. Mr. Puckerman had asked for rent money—claiming it was the hardest thing a man could do, begging for help. Puck gave in; of course he did, so that maybe he wouldn't have to see his old man again.

Puck was in a state of not even knowing what to do as he tried to walk around in the debris of his crumbling life. So he did the only thing he could coherently think of doing: going back to Glee Club to see his Glee bros.

* * *

Blaine backed up Finn's idea to help Puck in any way possible, but he knew that Finn's plan was so off the wall that it would never work. He amused him by nodding along and agreeing, even asking about his elaborate white board sketch of the plan.

For some reason, even if Blaine was not close to the boy, something drew Blaine to Puck like a moth to a flame whenever they were in the position of being friends. Blaine had heard a lot about the boy's past from Kurt, his past bullying and gay bashing tendencies. It had made Blaine nervous being around him, but over the course of the year Blaine had noticed that Noah was in fact not that boy anymore… as much as he tried and tried to keep that image up.

Blaine heaved a huge sigh of relief when the boy that they were all discussing entered the room. Blaine wouldn't have to go through Finn's wacky attack plan, and of course he knew the boy was now safe. Puck had called Blaine one of his "bros" and Blaine took it to heart. For as he was not warmly welcomed into New Directions with universal open arms, it was nice to see that he was now accepted, and considered "one of the guys". It was a nice feeling and Blaine, from once being a Warbler, really learned that you needed to look out for your brothers, because if you didn't then who would? And Puck was a good guy to have on your side.

"It looks like you saw a ghost, man. What's up?" Blaine heard Finn say, pulling him from his thoughts and his attention back to the boy that now sat on the stool in front of him.

Puck looked… lost, to say the least, and somewhere Blaine could feel his heart strings being pulled for the boy in front of him.

"I saw my dad," Puck muttered emotionlessly.

Blaine knew now why Puck's expression pulled at his heart strings so much. It was the same look he had whenever he himself talked to his own father. Blaine may not know the full history between Puck and the senior Puckerman, but he was willing to guess that it was not a good one.

"I haven't seen him in…" Puck made a face, shaking his head, "five years." He then went on to explain that his dad had asked him for rent money.

Silence met the room, waiting to see if Puck would continue, but the boy just looked at the ground like a zombie. Finn spoke up again, "What did you do?"

Puck looked at him and said in a quiet voice, "I gave it to him… five hundred bucks." He turned his head back to the rest of the glee boys, but Blaine could tell that he wasn't focusing on any of them. He looked so out of it that tears sprung to Blaine's eyes. It was heartbreaking to see Puck like this. "It was most of my seed money for LA."

"I-I don't get it. Why?" Artie spoke up then.

"Because I knew that if I gave it to him, I'd never have to see him again," Puck answered in the same quiet voice, but with a little edge this time.

Blaine knew that feeling, the feeling that if he didn't have to see his dad's disgusted face every time he looked at him, he'd do anything (besides change his sexuality for him), anything he could to just get his father to look at him like he looks at his brother, Cooper, the prodigal son. But to say that he never wanted to see his father again… he couldn't do that and it made Blaine feel sympathy towards the normally "let things roll off your back" boy in front of him.

"You know he didn't graduate high school either?" Puck went on to explain and everything started to click into place in Blaine's brain. All of the throw away comments of wanting to graduate that Puck made were deeply rooted by a strong desire to succeed in at least that. And now Blaine understood that Puck just wanted to be a better man than his father was. Blaine watched and listened intently as Puck continued by mentioning Beth and how he imagined himself being just like his father with no dignity or future and that he could not let that happen to him.

Blaine was fighting back the tears now as he stared at Noah Puckerman, resident badass of McKinley High, in awe because, _god damn_, this was not the Puck he knew. But it was very apparent to Blaine that the Puck he thought he knew was not the real Noah Puckerman, and the boy sitting in front of him and bearing out his soul to the guys that he viewed as his brothers was the real Noah. The guy was like Superman, he was so strong in yet underneath he was just a normal guy with normal emotions underneath. _A real heart of gold_, Blaine thought as he sniffed back more tears, trying so hard to stay strong for Puck because there was no way in hell that Puck need a crying, hair gelled, hobbit of a gay kid crying over him. But, as Blaine sat there, it just occurred to him just how much a like the two of them really were.

Sure, Blaine had known of Noah Puckerman even before he met Kurt by meeting him in the Fight Club circuit. He had watched the boy, studying his opponent, as Puck fought every guy he came across. His body was like a snake moving smooth and sly, and his sneak attacks were fast. They had been paired up once, and Blaine had been thoroughly knocked on his ass within the first five minutes. But Blaine had recognized the way his body coiled with anger, the angry mask, and that "I hate the fucking world" attitude that Blaine himself had worn since the time of his bashing to the time of going to Dalton where you had to be the definition of dapper gentleman at all times. But only now did he understand that the two had some of the same sources of anger that they were both trying to deal with.

"—Will you help me?" Puck's voice broke into Blaine's thoughts, causing him to sit up a little straighter. "Please?"

Blaine nodded his head, not sure exactly what he was agreeing to, but knowing that he had to help him out no matter what. Finn nodded too, so Blaine didn't think he had just agreed to murder or something, which was good.

"Never leave a man behind," Finn had agreed, fist bumping with Puck.

After that, Artie had sprung into action and told everyone to go take a half hour before they hit the books because it was going to be a long night. They would teach Puck everything they could, or die trying. Blaine was happy for this because he wanted to pull Puck aside, but unfortunately, as he looked at his watch, it was time for his boyfriend's NYADA audition so he had to haul ass to the locker room to change so he wouldn't be late.

* * *

By the time Kurt's and Rachel's auditions were over and Blaine had time to help console Rachel, as well as quickly give his boyfriend a congratulatory blow job backstage (because _god damn he just ripped his clothes off on stage to reveal painted on gold leather pants that should have been illegal_), Blaine was running down the hallways to get back to the choir room to start the last-ditch-effort-to-get-Puck-to graduate cramming session.

When he arrived, everyone else was already there (besides Finn who had scrambled in a few feet behind him) and digging into the pizza that someone had ordered. Mike gave Blaine a raised eyebrow, and Blaine blushed a little before turning towards his pizza and scarfing it down, taking full advantage of being a guy with his boys and not having Kurt breathing down his neck and making him feel guilty about calories and grease being bad for your skin.

* * *

Hours later had Puck complaining, "My brain is fried, it's frickin' three in the morning," while everyone groaned, rubbing their foreheads, as Artie cheerfully replies, "That's awesome! We still got nine more hours to cram for your test."

Blaine wondered just how in the hell he was still so damn uppity, and that was saying something because Blaine was a pretty uppity person in general. All Blaine wanted was to either have a nice cup of coffee or to just crawl into bed and sleep for days.

_Yeah, sleep is good—no, Blaine, you're here to help Puck. Snap out of it. You did all this shit last year at Dalton. _

_But why can't I just have coffee? _

Whose bright idea was it to not have coffee anyway? Didn't they know that Blaine literally could barely function without the stuff? Blaine was ripped from his thoughts by Finn reading out of a book about Spain, and Joe saying that it was fascinating. It most definitely was not, and no fucking wonder Puck was complaining.

"No, it's _not_. Who the hell cares? Not even Einstein uses this crap!"

He was right, Blaine had to agree. He couldn't care less about this stuff too and it was about putting him to sleep just thinking about it, but he had to help Puck somehow. So Blaine said, "So wipe it from your memory tomorrow _after_ your test." Well, it's what Blaine did with most stuff, so why not, Puckerman?

Puck just turned his head and sighed. This was getting him nowhere, but you had to give it to all of them for trying, especially Finn who was currently still reading out of the book that was even gibberish to Blaine's ears now. But then a miracle happened and Finn was on a roll by showing Puck to think about how the words rhymed and he remembered. Blaine wanted to jump for joy and kiss the giant lug, because thank god someone_ finally_ broke through to Puck, but Blaine was way too tired to move and that would just be a little weird.

And then, true to how tired and delirious they all are, and just happy that things were looking up for Puck, they all took a little break by Puck breaking into song. True, it was a related song about the rain in Spain, but it was still a break none the less, and Blaine was more than happy for it.

"By George he's got it!" Blaine exclaimed as he jumped up to join the singing and dancing boys around the choir room. He just hoped to god that this all worked out and Puck passed his test because he didn't think he could bear seeing his friend—yeah, they better be friends now if Blaine stayed up this late with no coffee for him (he could barely do that for Kurt)—that crushed again. "By George he's got it!"

And after jumping around some more and jamming, along with some head banging, the song ended with everyone in a little higher spirits.

That is until Artie says, "Moving on: what rhymes with pre-industrial European deforestation? Anybody?"

Everyone groans and deflates back into their seats for another hour of studying before deciding to call it quits because Puck really should get some sleep because, knowing Puck, he'd probably sleep right through the test and that was not an option even if Blaine himself had to drag Puckerman out of bed and to school to be there on time… which, he wouldn't, he'd make Finn do it, but still.

When everyone was packing up their things, Blaine told Finn that he'd meet him at the Hudmel house where he'd crash on their couch (so that he didn't have to drive all the way home at five in the morning just to turn around and come back at seven. He left clothes at Kurt's house anyway). He lagged behind to pull Puck aside to finally talk to him. "Hey, Puck!" he called before the taller Mohawk-haired boy could fully leave the room.

Puck turned back towards him with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Yeah, Anderson?"

"Just…" Blaine fiddled with the strap of his bookbag and looked at the ground for a moment before looking back up at Puck again. "Just—and I know it's weird of me to say this, since we aren't the closest of friends and all—but, just… don't think too much, okay? You know this stuff more than you think you do. Just relax and you'll pass. Just believe in yourself, okay? Because I—_we believe in you_. If we didn't, we sure as hell wouldn't have stayed up this late to help you." Puck only nodded at him, gazing at him as he tried to figure out the grinning shorter boy. It wasn't as awkward as Blaine should have felt, in fact it barely fazed him, and he blazed through when he saw that Puck made no move to speak. "Kurt's gonna be mad that I missed my nightly moisturizing routine, I'll never hear the end of it," Blaine joked as he started to move past Puck, only to have Puck stop him by putting a hand on his arm briefly.

When Blaine turned to face Puck, he now being the slightly confused one, Puck said, "Thanks. Seriously, all you guys… if it weren't for you I'd have no change in hell of passing this stupid test. At least now I have a fighting chance."

"Yeah, Superman. Can't have you resigning yourself to follow into Daddy's footsteps now, can we?" Blaine joked again, but from the hard look that took over Puck's face, he thought maybe he had stepped too far. "Puck, I'm so sorry. Too soon, huh?"

Puck only regarded him with a calculating expression again, and Blaine could see how people could be scared of him, before he shrugged. "Yeah, but no big deal. Can't pick who our sperm donors are." He started to walk and Blaine took the slight nod of his head that Blaine should follow, so the two started to walk down the hallways together.

Blaine couldn't help but laugh nervously. "You got that right." He tried to keep his voice light, but the obvious deep meaning was unmistakable.

"Daddy troubles too, eh, Anderson?"

Blaine shrugged and looked up to see Puck looking at him with a look of understanding, and it was such an open expression, different from the closed off and hard looks that he usually wore, that Blaine was soon spilling his guts as Puck had done earlier. "Yeah, well, ever since I came out to him, he's looked at me like I was even lesser than the scum on the bottom of his shoe, like I'm such a disgrace for a son just because I like boys."

"That must be hard," Puck replied nervously, and it was weird for Blaine to see because the guy was always so damn cocky.

"Yeah, it is…" Blaine drawls with a nod. "And then he turns and looks at my brother like he's the best son my dad could ask for. 'Do no wrong Cooper,' and, well… you've met Cooper."

"Basket case."

They both laughed and Blaine nodded. "So yeah, I get how it feels not to have the father that you want so bad, but you're stuck with what you get and you just gotta deal." Blaine shrugged again and by this point they had made their way almost to the front school doors. Why they were still allowed in the building this late was beyond Blaine.

"You're not half bad, hobbit," Puck suddenly said from behind him as Blaine opened the door for the both of them, wincing as the rain pelted them in the face. Blaine really wished he had his Dalton hoodie, but unfortunately it was probably currently wrapped around Kurt's warm body in his bed.

"Oh, yeah? Well you're not too bad yourself, Superman." And where the casual use of the nickname came about, Blaine had no clue, but Puck didn't seem to mind it.

"Like, the guys mean well and all. Hell they all stayed awake that long for me, but you…" Puck shuffled a little—uncomfortable or cold, Blaine couldn't tell—as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "You understand my situation. Finn tries to…I mean, he understands the not having a dad thing, but his dad left because he died… mine just… _left_. And you actually took the time to stand here and talk to me, give me a pep talk." He smirked a little. "God knows I need it, because I'm actually scared shitless that I'm not gonna pass."

"Yeah, well, bros gotta look out for each other, right?" Blaine smirked back at him, squinting up through the rain at him and was internally cursing himself for not staying inside longer to have this conversation. His hair was going to be an absolute mess tomorrow.

Puck nodded his head and Blaine continued, "And seriously, dude, just don't get down on yourself. If you don't pass, you don't pass. It sucks, but there's still next year—and if you do have to somehow repeat again, I'll still be here. And Artie. So we still got your backs." Blaine then patted him on the shoulder and turned to walk towards his car, but Puck once again grabbed him and, to Blaine's surprise, Puck actually hugged him… it was a bro hug, yes, but it was a hug nonetheless. Blaine was stunned, and blamed it on Puck's fried brain and lack of sleep.

"Thanks, Hobbit, really," Puck said as he released Blaine, and Blaine could barely hear him over the rain.

"As much as I love this brofest we have going on here, its five thirty in the morning and you really should get at least a few hours of sleep before your big test. We didn't just spend hours cramming your pea size brain for nothing, ya know."

Puck grinned. "Oh, so Anderson wants to throw down with the big boys now, huh? Okay, just watch out. I'm too tired right now, but I'm gonna give you crap tomorrow." Puck shook his head and turned towards his truck, laughing.

"Yeah, I'll be waiting. AFTER YOU PASS YOUR TEST!" Blaine yelled after him and was rewarded with the middle finger before Puck peeled out of the parking lot. Blaine shook his head, smiling to himself, before finally getting into his car and driving to Kurt's house where he promptly passed out on their couch.

* * *

The next day, Puck found himself sitting at his desk in the European Geography classroom with a copy of the exam in front of him. Instead of answering the questions, he was drawing a pretty badass dragon playing a flying V. He looked up and noticed Finn, Mike, and Rory peaking their heads in through the window and couldn't help but smiling internally. His bros had his back, just like Blaine had said to him last night. And Blaine's speech really did ease his mind to the point where once he got home he just crashed on top of his covers, soaking wet clothes and all, until it was time for the exam. He would just let whatever would happen, happen and just hoped for the best. But as he looked up to see his friends, the teacher told him, "Eyes on your own paper, Puckerman," he shook himself and began to focus. He wasn't really helping himself out by not answering anything. He told his bros that he would try, and try is what he would do.

He answered the first two questions with ease, remembering the song from last night, but time ran out before he could answer any more. He was screwed and he knew it, but he wouldn't let his boys know that he had stupidly wasted his time and all their efforts.

Because what was Noah Puckerman anyway? Just a screw up. Everybody thought so, so he might as well get used to it too.

Once he turned in his test on the teacher's desk, he walked through the door of the classroom and into the hallway where he was immediately bombarded by his bros. He didn't really want to face them, but one good thing about Noah Puckerman was that he was used to masking his emotions.

"Oh, how'd you think you did?" Mike was the first to ask.

"My best," Puck answered as honestly as he could.

"Did you pass?" Blaine asked excitedly, remembering their talk from last night.

"Does your head hurt? Sometimes after I take a test my head hurts, it's usually a good sign," Sam interjected.

"You know, it's weird, but… I think I did," Puck answered confidently after taking another brief look at Blaine's optimistic face. And oddly enough, he was telling the truth… even if he was partly lying. "Thank to you guys."

All the guys exchanged smiles with each other and Finn put a hand on Puck's shoulder to give him a squeeze.

"So, thank you. All of you." Puck shrugged, shaking his head a little. "You know… it's hard growing up without a dad, you don't have any dude role models, except NFL players and video game characters." He took a breath, moving his eyes from one boy to the next to make sure they were all included. "I lucked out. Instead of one dad, I got a whole gang of 'em. You guys showed me what it means to be a man, not just last night, but for four years." He stopped and turned to look at Blaine then. "Even you, Blaine."

And Blaine was so surprised that he was singled out like that, he blinked and just barely managed to say hesitantly, "…thanks?"

"Let's hug it out," Sam suggested with a smirk and everyone leaned in for a group bro hug in the middle of the McKinley hallway.

* * *

The next day, Puck saw himself sitting in the same seat as yesterday as the teacher passed out their graded finals. She set his down in front of him and continued on to the next student. Puck closes his eyes briefly and took a calming breath before picking up the test and looking at the score at the top of the paper.

Puck felt his eyebrows knit together on his forehead as his brown eyes took in the glaring red F circled on the top of his paper. He knew it would happened, he really did. He just was hoping that through some miracle he would actually pass.

He continued to stare at the paper clutched in his hands as he felt his entire world crumble even more around him as he took some deep breaths. This was it, his ticket to graduation or to repeat senior year over and he got a one way ticket to repeating senior year. He was pissed off at the world, pissed off at his father, pissed off at Blaine for being so fucking optimistic, but, most of all, he was pissed off at himself because he knew he could have done better.

He sat there for who knows how long with the paper clutched in his fists and his eyes staring blankly at the wall in front of him, ignoring the tears pooling in his brown eyes. All the students had left, and after the teacher had patted him on the back and said something that Puck couldn't hear, she too had left the room. Puck was alone, so very alone in the classroom as he continued to stare blankly at the wall and willed the tears to go away. He was Noah Puckerman for fuck's sake, he'd never cry over this.

And then the door was opening and a head was poking through as hazel eyes landed on the seemingly catatonic boy sitting at the desk in the back of the room. Of course Puck didn't notice a thing until her heard hollow footsteps in the back of his mind and then a boy was filling his vision because he sat in front of him.

Puck flickered his eyes only briefly to focus on the helmet of hair gel that Blaine's calls hair to notice who it was before shutting his eyes and letting the tears slide down his face slowly. He somehow uncenched his stiff fists and slid the paper around so Blaine could see it.

Blaine, who had been studying the other boy silently, waiting for him to take the first move, felt his heart sink to his toes as he took in the glaring red F. "No," Blaine whispered, moving a hand to cover his mouth with the hand that wasn't holding the paper. "But you—we… crammed. How?"

"I'm just a loser like my father," Puck answered stiffly. "Can't really expect anything different."

Blaine set down the paper and put his hands on each of Puck's nice biceps and shook him a little, knowing he's probably pressing his boundaries, but who the fuck cares right now? "Hey, no, you listen to me, Noah Puckerman." Puck actually looked up at him. Huh. "You are not your father and you never will be, okay?" Blaine shook his shoulders again, leaning down a little to capture Puck's gaze before Puck looked away from him again. "And I stand by what I said last night. So what if you have to repeat again? You'll just show them next year and kick all your classes' ass, you got me? And I'll be there every step of the way." Blaine smiled down at him and jumped off the desktop to stand up. "Never leave a man behind, right? Bros got each other's back?"

Puck sighed and groaned, wiping the tear from his face with his hand, "You are too optimistic for your own good, hobbit."

"Get used to it, Superman. You got a whole 'nother year to endure it. Lucky you, huh?" Blaine punched him slightly in the shoulder playfully.

"Yeah, lucky me," Puck answered sarcastically before leading Blaine out of the classroom. "So, what do ya say? Feel like boxin' a champ?" Puck grinned, crisis temporarily averted.

Blaine smirked evilly at him. "Oh, you're on!" And then they both raced each other to the work-out room and proceeded to pummel each other until it was time for Glee. Both were limping and supporting multiple bruises, but were smiling and joking nonetheless with each other, much to the other members' confusion.

When the hell did Blaine and Puck become the best of buds?

Oddly enough, Puck and Blaine had no idea either.


End file.
